CEO Profile: Brent Dewey owns Trout Club, mini real-estate "empire"

Brent Dewey oversees a Newark-based construction and real estate business called AKD Construction, building dozens of retail stores as well as various real estate buys, flips and rehabs.(Photo: Sara C. Tobias, Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)

NEWARK – Brent Dewey found school a little boring. “I was more interested in doing something than sitting in class,” he recalled. So 1989 while he was still an undergraduate at OSU, he remodeled his first house. “It’s kind of why I dropped out of school,” he explained.

Now, he and his wife, Agata, oversee a Newark-based multi-million-dollar construction and real estate business called AKD Construction, building dozens of retail stores as well as various real estate buys, flips and rehabs. Together they own dozens of houses and hundreds of apartments. That includes The Trout Club Public Resort.

“We’ve got quite an empire of real estate now,” Dewey said. “The Trout Club was just one of those things that came along.”

Dewey, now 48, and his wife paid almost $700,000 in 2014 to purchase the former Licking Springs Golf and Trout Club. They spent eight months and more than $2.4 million to restore and remodel it into The Trout Club Public Resort. Its grand opening was Memorial Day, 2015.

Then tragedy struck in November 2015. A fire broke out in a garage housing some golf carts. It destroyed part of the clubhouse/restaurant building. Damages were in the $1.4 million range. It forced the facility to close for seven months, leaving Dewey no choice but to restore the building he had just restored.

Finally, The Trout Club reopened in May 2016. “It’s probably been the most rewarding project I’ve ever done,” Dewey said, “and probably ever will do.”

Seriously ...

Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?

A. I get to meet all kinds of interesting people from around Ohio and beyond. It has really helped me with my construction business (AKD Construction) more than expected.

Q. What are you most proud of about your career?

A. That I have been able to employ and retain some amazing, hardworking people in all of our businesses that make me look good. The Trout Club is for sure a great example of our team’s passion to restore great properties.

Q. What has been the biggest challenge in leading The Trout Club?

A. Stepping in from a construction background to running a small resort with little to no experience. The Trout Club has a little of everything. Restaurant, bars, motel rooms, weddings/events, a pool, live entertainment and of course golf. I didn’t know much about any of these, but it really comes down to the right people running each of them that you can trust.

Q. What would you like people to know about The Trout Club they may not know?

A. That we are open to the public! When we opened up in 2015, we realized there was a misunderstanding in the community that the place was a private club when in fact it has always been open to the public. Also, that we have wonderful food and an amazing atmosphere to enjoy on your visit.

Q. How has The Trout Club changed through the years?

A. It started as a working family farm in the 1800’s. It became a trout farm due to our amazing natural springs and water quality on the property. The golf course came along in 1960 and when the Wolfe family owned it, people started coming up to enjoy great food, entertainment and the pool. We have only expanded and updated on what was already an amazing piece of Licking County history. I always say none of us really own the land. We are just the temporary stewards of the land and the mortgage payers for a small amount of time. Someday, someone else will get to do all this hard work.

On the lighter side ...

Q. What is your favorite movie?

A. Don’t Laugh….probably Forest Gump. I like to mow grass too.

Q. What is your favorite TV show?

A. The Sopranos. The world as we see it split into 2 halves. You either watched the Sopranos or you didn’t. Seinfeld was kind of the same way.

Q. What’s your favorite type of music?

A. I’m a 70’s child…I listen to country and hard rock. But classic rock wins out.

Q. What is your favorite book?

A. Believe it or not, probably Dave Longaberger’s biography. He was an amazing business person. Funny, he enjoyed mowing the grass too!

Q. What is your favorite sport or activity to participate in?

A. I enjoy flying. We own a small single engine plane we use for business trips and some family vacations. Something rewarding about taking your family somewhere fun in the plane. Snow skiing and riding quads on the farm and any activity with my family.

Q. What is favorite sport to watch?

A. Horse racing and auto racing. We have horses but they are really just fancy lawn ornaments. We enjoy fast cars and I always had a desire to race them, but life sometimes takes a different path.

Q. What is your favorite pro basketball team?

A. I really don’t watch sports much. I have always found myself wanting to do other stuff and getting restless when watching any sporting event. Probably looking for real estate or cleaning something is more of a pastime for me.

Q. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

A. Flying. Something peaceful about leaving all your troubles on the ground and going somewhere new and warm!

Q. What is your favorite meal?

A. I love a good steak. It’s Newark. We are pretty basic here….meat and taters! I mean have you ever driven by the Texas Road House and the lot not be backed up into Church Street? Evan Farley kills a lot of steers every week! The Trout Club has a darn good steak too!

Q. Who is the person you most admire in your life?

A. Hands down my grandpa Clark. I miss him every day. Good hard-working farmer that taught me about almost everything. How to do math in my head, how to strike fair deals in business. How to get up early and make hay while the sun shines. He told me to buy real estate. That was good advice. I buy real estate even when I am dead broke but somehow always find the way to get it done.

Q. Who is a public figure you most admire?

A. There are a few, but locally, you have to admire Sarah Wallace for all she has done and continues to do for our town. Jerry McClain, of course, which I think anyone in real estate has to consider as a role model. Steve Layman has helped me along the way. Most all of my closest people that work in our companies have come from broken homes and have overcome different things in their lives to make themselves successful and be good parents and good people. I admire them and glad to be friends with these people

Q. What’s your dream vacation?

A. Loading up the plane with the family and island hopping in the Bahamas until we find that perfect island that has a perfect mix of action and chill. Finding that cozy beach front villa where you can wake up each day and be alone with your thoughts and kids and be able to spend quality time watching them explore and teaching them about life. That all sounds amazing and we pillow talk about those days. Truth is we like to work and I would probably be thinking about all the crazy things back home that we have created. We like our rut. We complain about it daily but it’s our life. Business has been good to us. It can be taxing at times but we enjoy creating our own path. A good beach vacation a couple times a year is welcomed though.

Q. If you could be in any other job or profession, what would it be?

A. Doing exactly what I do…..just maybe somewhere warmer in the winter months.

Breakout Box:

The Trout Club Public Resort is located at 2250 Horns Hill Road in Newark. For more information call 740-366-2770 or log on www.thetroutclub.com.